Canucks' streak snapped as Red Wings rally to win 2-1

Vancouver Canucks Roberto Luongo goes down as the Detroit Red Wings score their first goal.

Photograph by: Mark van Manen
, PNG

VANCOUVER - Apart from the bookends, October was a pretty decent month for the Vancouver Canucks.

It didn’t start the way they would have liked, with a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on opening night, and didn’t end particularly well Wednesday night at Rogers Arena, where the Canucks closed out the month with a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Still, the Canucks finished a busy October with a record of 9-5-1, not bad considering they played nine of those 15 games on the road. Those nine wins match the most they’ve ever had in October.

Still, that wasn’t much consolation after what was a rather ugly performance by the Canucks.

The Canucks and Red Wings usually entertain when they meet one another. Wednesday was not one of those nights. The game was a tight-checking affair and the Wings seemed to have a lot more of the puck than the Canucks.

“It was a frustrating game tonight,” said centre Ryan Kesler. “I don’t think either team played their best. It was sloppy game and we just have to come with a better effort on Saturday.

The Canucks close out their three-game homestand Saturday afternoon against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For the second straight game, there was more Sedinery from Henrik and Daniel. The twins worked their magic off the rush on Vancouver’s only goal at 14:12 of the first period. As he crossed the blue line, Daniel fed a pass to Henrik, who instead of shooting slid a slick pass to Daniel who beat confused Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard from a sharp angle.

The goal was Daniel’s sixth of the season and extended Henrik’s point streak to 10 games.

Unfortunately, that was about the only highlight offensively for the Canucks, who had a four-game winning streak snapped by a Detroit team that just didn’t give them much time or space.

The Canucks only managed 20 shots on Howard, who seemed to be spilling rebounds all night. Trouble is, the Canucks were never in a position to pounce on one.

“It was sloppy game overall from both teams, I thought,” said Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin. “There was lot of play in the neutral zone, turnovers from both teams. Not a whole lot of chances.”

The Red Wings, who entered the game riding a four-game losing streak, grabbed the lead in the second period with goals by Daniel Alfredsson and Tomas Tatar.

Tatar’s goal, at 18:58 of the second, came from just inside the blue line and went between Roberto Luongo’s legs. Luongo appeared to be screened on the shot by defenceman Chris Tanev, who lifted his leg to allow the puck to get through him.

“"I was just trying to get out of the way so Lou could see it and make the save,” Tanev said of his flamingo move. “But obviously I screened him.

"I've got to do a better job getting out of the way. It was a soft wrister and would have been no problem if Lou could see it."

"Don't blame Louie,” coach John Tortorella said of Luongo. “Louie gave us a chance to get back in the game in the third period. We didn't generate enough offence. We certainly didn't sustain a forecheck. We looked lethargic. For whatever reason, we lacked energy tonight.”

Tortorella juggled his lines in the third period. He moved Alex Burrows alongside the Sedins and then had Mike Santorelli skate with them. Nothing worked.

Once again, the Canucks got nothing from their power play. Vancouver was 0-for-4 on the night with the man advantage and has only scored four power-play goals this season.

“We have to go out there now with the mindset of just scoring goals,” Henrik said. “We can’t be thinking about setting guys up or getting the right shot. We have to get people in front and grind some pucks. Throw pucks at the net and maybe get a bounce that way. It has been too long.”

“It could have helped us tonight,” Tortorella said of the power play. “It wasn't good. Other nights it's been good. Tonight it wasn't good."

ICE CHIPS: The Canucks have had their fill of Eastern Conference opponents in their first 15 games. The Red Wings, who moved East under realignment, were Vancouver’s 10th Eastern opponent this season. The Canucks are 6-3-1 against the East this season. . .Winger Mikael Sameulsson, the former Canuck, was a healthy scratch for the Red Wings. Samuelsson has only played in four of Detroit’s 13 games this season.

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